UCF 2017-18 National Championship Claim

The Validity UCF's Claim

Since their victory over Auburn in the Peach Bowl, the UCF Knights and the entire city of Orlando, have unabashedly insisted that, as college football’s only undefeated team, they are national champions. One of the former BCS computers, the Colley Matrix, ranks UCF No. 1. It adds some validity to UCF’s claim.
​Turn to page 108 of the NCAA’s football records. There you’ll see a list of “national champion major selectors.” These are national polls, computers, historians, and other rankings that the NCAA recognizes as contributing to the selection of national champs throughout the sport’s history.
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It’s also significant because even 2017’s consensus champion Alabama has much more dubious claims on its list of past titles.

House Bill 1359 filed in Florida Legislature to create a specialty Florida license plate honoring UCF as national champs pic.twitter.com/7JodOqSuxP

The hypocrisy of claiming a "Power 5 Bias"

Many may claim that denying UCF a championship for low level of competition is “Power 5 bias” but there are reasons behind it. Most college football teams, UCF included, only recruit certain areas in Florida, Georgia and California. In fact, UCF’s 2017 roster had only 13 players that weren’t from big time football states such as Texas, Florida, Georgia, California, Alabama, etc. Why is that UCF? Could it be that, to you, the level of competition in these states makes their players unequivocally better than the top standout players in other states? Hm? You call out college football for having a power 5 bias because they favor teams in more competitive conferences, but you follow the same principle in your recruiting.

If the level of competition doesn’t matter as much as you say, then make a statement and recruit outside the big time football states and 6-7A schools. Find recruits that are overlooked for the same reason you were overlooked by the CFB playoffs. Otherwise, your claim to a national championship is tainted by your hypocrisy of employing the same logic of this so-called "power 5 bias" in your recruiting.

Loss of Head Coach Scott Frost

Ok UCF, let’s say the BCS expanded it’s playoff system to 8 teams instead of 4. Do you really think you could have bested Ohio State or Wisconsin, let alone Alabama or Clemson? Sure, you bested Auburn in the Peach after they defeated Alabama in the Iron bowl, but you also allowed Memphis to score 55 points on your defense. What’s more, mere hours after that game ended, Scott Frost takes the head coaching job at his alma mater, Nebraska, while still agreeing to coach UCF through the bowl game. ​

Now let's see how UCF fares with their new promising head coach Josh Heupel. Adrian Killins Jr. is a powerhouse and so are many their players, but is it enough to maintain a winning record this year? We'll find out today in their opening game against UConn.